Stocks Resume Last Week’s Slide
After
a brief move higher at the start of trading the major averages settled into a
narrow range for most of the day,
before resuming last week’s slide in the afternoon. With the bond
market closed for Columbus Day, no economic news and a number of markets closing
early, equities were left to themselves to find direction. It took traders most
of the day but they eventually determined that direction was down.
Earnings season gets underway after the closing bell with the
release of Alcoa’s
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) quarterly results. The Dow component, which hit a new
52-week low today, is expected to report quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share,
down from $0.34 per share last year. Genentech
(
DNA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is also scheduled to
announce its results after the close, with analysts predicting earnings growth
to $0.30 per share. Genentech closed slightly higher ahead of its quarterly
report.
Stocks On The Move
The biggest story of the day is that an internal review at
Refco
(
RFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) revealed the company CEO and Chairman of the Board Phillip R.
Bennett owed the company $430 million. Mr. Bennett repaid the amount in full,
including interest but has been forced to take a “leave of absence” amid a major
shake up of the management structure. The company’s auditor’s revealed that
Refco’s financial statements since February 2002 should not be relied upon. RFX
lost more than 45% of its market value today.
GM
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was the worst performing Dow component, falling
almost 10% on Delphi’s
(
DPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) bankruptcy. The stock, which has been drifting
lower since early August, is at its lowest level since the start of May.
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped sharply late in Friday’s session on concerns about the
company’s VIOXX trial in New Jersey. MRK was the Dow’s best performing
components today with a 4% advance.
Â
Dow |
-53.55 | 10,238.76 |
NASDAQ |
-11.43 | 2078.92 |
S&P 500 |
-8.57 | 1187.33 |
NYSE | NASDAQ | |
Volume |
2,191,473,000 | 1,379,215,000 |
Advances |
943 | 1063 |
Declines |
2299 | 1918 |
Up Volume |
403 | 424 |
Down Volume |
1672 | 882 |
New Hi’s |
34 | 44 |
New Lo’s |
159 | 100 |
Â
|
Weakest Sectors |
Disk Drive ( DDX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Semiconductor ( SOX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Healthcare ( HMO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Utility ( UTY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Internet ( DOT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Natural Gas ( XNG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Ashton Dorkins